Mileage-recorder for pneumatic tires.



C. L. GLISE 6L R. MORGENBIER. MILEAGE RECORDER POR PNBUMATG TIRES.

` Y APPLICATION FILED JUNE, 27, 1910, 1,101,406, Patented June 23, 1914.

UMTED srnfrns PATENT OFFICE. 'l

CLA'QDE LEWIS cLIsn, or BERKELEY, Ann Renn-.nr monoamine, or QAKLND,

. CALIFORNIA.

I MILEAGE-RECORIDER FOR PNEUMATICI TIRES.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June, 1914.

A l Application led .Tune 27, 1910. Serial No. 569,008.

To dll 'whom it may. concern: Be it 'known that we, CLISE and ROBERT Mononxnrnn, citizens of ,the United States, residing at Berkeley and .5 Oakland, respeetively, in the county or' Ala- 'mcda land State of California, have invented :certain new and useful Improvements in Iileage-Recorders for Pneumatic Tires, of which the following is a specification. '1 0* The hereinafter described invention re'-` lates to an attachment tobe applied tothe innersurface of an automobile tire for determining approximately the mileage travel thereof, so as to place beyond dispute on presentation of a worn out tire for allow- 'anceQadjustment any question as towhether p the tire has withstood a guaranteed mileage .oftraveL I `Withmany manufacturers of automobile tires',"t is customary to guarantee their tires for a'given 'number of miles of travel, say thirty-five hundred miles, and to make .an [agreed allowance adjustment icr such tires as do not withstand travel to the extent ot' 'such mileage guarantee. However, up to the .present time, no means exist as applied CLAUDE Lewis A .Within-a tire for determining whether or not f Itlie't-ire has withstood the guaranteed mileage of travel, and, as a result, disputes conl z: li 30. stantly arise between the purchaser and manufacturer over this question when a tire claim is presented foradjustment, with the f 'freSult that.' not only'is the manufacturer re- ''peatedly imposed upon and gra-nts an allori'- f 35,.;ancefor claimed unused mileage travel, but

l 1 ifrequently an honest claim is denied by reason of the adjusters contention that the tire l has Outrun its mileage guarantee. It isthe above conflict between the user and the manufacturer o'f the tire which the present invention aims to dispose oi, by providing a recorder for each tirel which will automatically operate throughout 'the running movemerit of the tirel for preserving an approximate record of the number of miles traveled `.thereby,so that on the tire being` opened for inspection, when presented for an allowance .f-adjustmentg' the miletra'vel of the tiremay *abe easilygand `readily determined, thus -plac .ofingtbeyeiid question as-to whether or not the .tire has' beennsed to substantially the point ofjts mileage gruarantee,thus enabling a; and. equitable allowance adjustment tol ,ermined `between. the parties.

To comprehend 'the invention, reference should 'be had to the accompanying sheet of` drawings, wherein- Figure l is a broken longitudinal section of a tire with our mileage recorder applied thereto. F ig. 2I isa broken transverse sdction of an automobile tire illustrating the mileage recorder held tothe inner surface thereof. Fig.v 3 is a bro-ken detail view of the recorder with its parts detacheth Fig. 4 isa plan view of the anvil member of the recorder. Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating the spreading of the malleable-member relative to the gage surface ofthe anvil ,memben Fig. 6 is a'detail view of the ser curing piece for holding the recording de vice to the inner face of the tire.

In'the drawings, the numeral 1 is used to indicatev what may be termed the fixed mem ber ofthe recording,r device and,'which shall be referred ,to as an anvil block, lvvhich,'in the present case, comprises a metallic disk formed with the circular projecting flange 2,.

providing a depressedseat Within which is loosely fitted and works the hammer member 3. |l`his lnember consists of a metallic disk slightly less in diameter than that of the seat of the anvil member, so as to rest freely within the sphere of the circumferential flange 2 of the said anvil member 1. The

'anvil member is formed with a central socket' 4, into which .is snugly fitted or secured in any manne-r whatsoever 'the lower end of a shortstud orpin 5, which projects slightly above thesurface of the anvil member and on which loosely rests the hammer member 3. This stud or pin 5 is formed of any soft malleable material, such as tin, lead, capable of being gradually: flattened by the action of the'hammer'memler 3 acting thereagainst during the rotary tra-vel of the tire. On the the inner surface of the' anvil member 1 a series of concentric rings are traced, marked respectively 15, 20, 25., 30, 35. The area of surface between, these concentric rings or circles represent miles ofy travel of the tire,

andthe figures 15, 20,25, 30 and-tdesig nate hundreds of miles.

" The" stud or pin 1n length ,ma diameter is`of a pre-determined size, so that as' the same is compressed yor flattened out' overthe snriaoe o the anvil -1, by theactien Qf the vibrator? .member 3,.. the...

' t which the recorder is applied.

hold ing the member?) a slight distance from' When the members 1, 3 and 5 are properly assembled, the malleable member 5 being interposed between the members l and 3 and the faceof the member 1, the same are secured to the inner face `of the automobile tire 6 by means of the retaining piece 7, which isjformed on'its inner face `with a circular recess or socket 8, into which the member 1 lis snugly fitted. This retaining piece .7 comprises preferably anelliptical shaped piece of rubber, .fabric o r other flexible material, thicker at its center than at its edges, which retaining piece or strip -is cemented to the inner surface .of thetire, thereby forming a soft pocket into Whichi the recording device is flexibly sealed and held in position relativeto the automobile tire. Against this retaining`piece the inner tube"9,'when inflated, bearsand presses the same against the inner face of the tire 6.-

,To prevent the hammer memberinjur `ing thel inner fabric surface of the tire, there is placed over ,the recording device, after being assembled and fitted to the retaining piece`7, a flexible strip -9, which is cemented to the inner. surface of the said retaining piece 7 'and' a'cts as a seal for the recorder, preventing the displacement of the parts during handling., However, the manner of holding themembers of the recorder posi-- tioned relative to each other and for securing the same "within the tire, is an imma terial feature, which may vary as to meet the requirements of tir'e manufacturers.

In carrying out our invention we have taken advantage of the vibratory forces engendered within an inflated automobile tire when in action and the pressure strains flowing therefrom, and haveprovided that these forces and strains shall fall onto a vibrating member and be transferred thereby to a malleable substance interposed between said member and an anvil member, so that, when therinner tube is .inflated and the 'tire in action, any vibrations, pulsations, stresses and chan es in pressure will act thereon, through t e'medium' of the hammer` or vibrating member, to slowly, but rogressively, and in constant exact proportion flatten or spread out the said malleable member or substance, gradually increasing. its diameter relative to the gaged surface of the anvil memberand leaving'tliereon a designating record of the total effect, from which thcniileage travel of the tire may be readily determined from an inspection of the anvil member, or ascertained by a micrometer reading determined from an established scale of'reading measurement as to the'flattened area ofsthe malleable` member relative to the surface ofthe anvil member.

.centric circles marked 15, whereas, when the t1re has traveled twenty-five hundred. miles, the spreadf With eachrevolution of a tire when in 'ac- Vtion with an inflated tube, the recording de vice being interposed between the said tube and thetire, the shifting strains will act against the loosely held hammer member of the recorder and transmit thereby such strains onto the malleable member, causing a'compression and spreading thereof to a limited degree; lith each revolution of the tire an added strain is thrown onto the malleable member and the area of its spread slightly augumented, which, constantly and progressively increases as the travel of the tire continuest We have determined, from practical operations, that after the tire has traveled fifteen hundred miles, the malleable memberwill have been compressed to such an extent that its spread covers the area of the surface of the anvil member to the point represented by the first of the series of con appearing thereon and of the said malleable member will be suchV as to cover thearea of surface of the anvil member to 4the p oint represented by the third drawn concentric circle, or that marked' 25.

By the timethe tire has traveled 'thirty-five 4hundred miles, the sprcadof the member will cover the entire area of the surface of the anvil member to the pointdesigna-ted by the last of the series of concentric circles, marked 35. Thus, by a mere inspection of the face of the anvil member, where the described gage system is utilized, a substantial accurate reading of the mileage travel of the tire may be obtained). The spreading of the malleable member is the result of the multiple of the strains thrown onto the hammer member during the travel of the tire, each revolution of the tire acting to impart a known degree of flattening thereto. Inasmuch as the generated strains are of the same character with each revolution of the wheel, and as there are a given number of revolutions foreach mile of travel, depending on the diameter of the tire, the action of ofthe malleable member of the recorder to a pre-determined degree, indicative of such extent of tire travel,

It will be' understood and it is obvious that the diameter, thickness, and malleability of.the material composing the member or recording medium 5, will influence the spreading thereof relative to the surface of the anvil member of the recorder, and that these factors must be `and are taken in consideration'and provided for in proper ratio with the measuring surface and the load to be carried.

For securing a reading or ascertaining from thedescribed recorder the mileage tire.

By the use of the present invention a mileage record suflicient to determine an allowance adjustment is maintained within the tire itself as to'the travel thereof, thus placing` at rest Aany question between the user and manufacturer of the tire as to whether the same, when presented for an allowance adjustment, has withstood the guarantee as to mileage travel.

It is obvious that various modifications of the described invention may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, which resides in theapplication within a .tire of means for automatically determining the mileage travel Aof such tire when in action.l While the embodiment of the invention as illustrated and described is simple incharacter, operative, and of the preferred for-m,`still, we do not wish to be understood as confining ourselves to such expressed arrangement of the working parts, but on the contrary, believing ourselves to be the first to apply within an automobile tire an automatic acting vrecorder as to mileage travel, wish to be understood as claiming broadly any automatically acting recorder Within the tire, which acts during theaction of the tire to preserve an approgiimate record of its lmileage travel. i

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new andv desired to be protected by Letters Patent is* l. lIn an automobile tire, the combination with a record disk situated therein, means for lsecuring the same to the inner face of the tire, and a device co-actmg with the record disk and acting thereon for produc-4 ing -a record indicative as to the mileage travel lof the tire.l i

2. The combination with an automobile tire, of automatically operated pressure actuated means applied to the interior thereof for record-ring on the surfacethereof the mileage travel of the tire, said pressure actuated meansbeing independent of the tire structure.

3. ln an automobile tire, a pressure actuated mileage recorder applied to the interior thereof, the same comprising an anvil member, a loosely held hammer member,

v and a malleable member interpjosed between said members, the spread or cdlilpression of said malleable member relative to the surface of the anvil member being indicative as to the mileage travel.

4. A mileage recorder for automobile tires, the same comprising an anvil member containing a mileage gage, a malleable member held thereto, and a pressure actuated member for acting against the malleable member to compress the same relativev to the surface of the anvil member for leaving thereon a registry as to miles of travel of the tire.

5.l A mileage recorder for application to the interior of an automobile tire, the same comprising an anvil member, a pressure actuated member, a malleable member interposed between said members, and means for securing the positioned members to the inner surface of a tire.

6. A mileage recorder for application to the interior of an automobile tire, the same comprising a relatively fixed member, an opposing pressure actuated member, a malleable medium interposed between said members for acting against the surface of the fixed member to designate thereon the mileage travel of the tire, and means for securing said members in adjusted position within an automobile tire.

7. A mileagerecorder for application within an automobile tire, the same comprising a fixed member, a malleable member held thereto, and a pressure actuated member acting thereagainst to compress the malleable member relative to the fixed member for leaving thereon a registry as to the miles traveled by the tire.

8. The combination of a vehicle wheel, a tire therefor, a record receiving means carried by said tire, a record producing means also carried by said tire and cooperating with said record receiving nieans to record the extent of use to which the tire has been subjected and means carried by said tire for actuating said record producing means.

In testimony whereof we have signed our naines to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CLAUDE LEWIS CLISE. ROBERT MORGENEIER.

Witnesses y N. A. ACKER, D. F. RICHARDS. 

